Broken
by funnywithachanceofmurder
Summary: Night Shift Write Me's: #1 – Thad comes home from Afghanistan in a coffin; TC comes home in pieces. Can Jordan put him back together? This one's going to be pretty angsty, just a warning.
1. Gone

Hello, everyone! So this is an entry for the first ever round of the Night Shift Write Me's! If you don't know what that is, you should definitely check out The Night Shift Fanfiction Community on tumblr. Basically, everyone gets the same prompt and you guys vote on your favorites by favoriting and following. This prompt was TC coming home from Afghanistan up until the point that he and Jordan broke up. This is going to be a multi-chapter story, and I'll try to update as quickly as I can. Warning - this story is going to be fairly angsty, and it's not going to have a happy ending. Jordan and TC did break up, and that will still happen here, so don't expect happiness and fluff (If you want some of that, you should check out my other two Night Shift stories, "Team Alexander and Callahan" or "I Like You"). Anyway, enjoy the first chapter!

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><p><strong>Gone<strong>

_October 7, 2010_

Jordan is dead asleep when her phone rings, the shrillness cutting straight through the quiet of her bedroom. She groans and rolls over, disoriented. She blindly throws a hand out and reaches around for the phone on her bedside table. Blinking blearily a few times, she squints at the clock and sees it's 4:06 in the morning. She answers without checking the caller ID.

"Hello?" she grumbles into the phone, figuring it's the hospital, calling her in a few hours early. But it's not Jamie, her head nurse, who speaks.

"Jor?" he whispers, so quiet she can barely hear him.

She sits up quickly, suddenly wide-awake. "TC?" she questions, surprised. She never gets unscheduled calls from TC. Honestly, she barely even gets scheduled calls from him, and since he's due to come home in a few weeks, she wasn't expecting to hear from him until then. Since he shipped out, they've relied mostly on letters, sparse phone calls, and the incredibly rare and precious Skype session.

As soon as she says his name, she can hear his breath catch and suddenly he's sobbing into the phone, brokenly whispering, "I'm sorry," over and over until she can barely understand him.

"T?" she asks again, this time panicked. "What's wrong?"

He doesn't answer, just continues to whisper that he's sorry in between sobs, and she can feel her pulse quicken. She has never seen TC cry, and she's terrified to find out what has him this distraught. She quickly does the math in her head, and figures it is 12:36 pm in Kandahar. This tells her that what ever happened is clearly as bad as it seems, because an unscheduled phone call in the middle of his day is completely unheard of.

"T, I need you to breathe, okay?" she says softly. He gives no indication that he hears her. "Just breathe with me, okay?" She inhales deeply and then exhales slowly. She doesn't say anything else to him. She just continues to breathe slowly into the phone, figuring he'll calm himself down. Eventually, his sobs begin to die down, and he matches his breathing with hers until he too is breathing steadily along with her, albeit a bit more raggedly. "What happened?" she finally asks, once his breathing has returned to mostly normal.

It's silent for a long time before TC finally whispers, "It's Thad." His voice breaks when he says his brother's name, and Jordan's heart plummets. For TC to be this upset, it must mean – "He's gone," he whispers so quietly she almost misses it.

"Oh, God," she whispers to herself, feeling tears gather in her own eyes. Since she started dating TC, Thad had become her older brother, too. When her father died, she cut ties with her mother and didn't have any other family. She was alone until she met TC her first year of residency, and then suddenly she had found a family in the Callahan boys.

Thad adopted her as the younger sister he never had, usually teasing her mercilessly, but occasionally becoming even more fiercely protective of her than TC. He became the big brother she never knew she wanted, and for the first time in years she had felt like part of a family. And now, she can't quite believe that he's gone. She feels a sob catch in her throat.

It's silent for what seems like forever before TC manages to speak again. "We," he pauses and takes a shaky breath, "I'm coming home tomorrow," he finally says softly. "They're letting me end my tour early."

"When are you getting here?"" she manages to ask.

"Not Baltimore. I'm going home, home. To Texas. We're flying into San Antonio tomorrow morning." He pauses, and adds in a shaky voice, "Texas is our home, so that's where the," he stops and the silence is deafening when Jordan realizes he was about to say funeral. "Where everyone needs to be," he finally says.

"I'll be there," she says immediately, climbing out of bed and heading towards the closet for her suitcase.

"I know it's last minute. So I'll understand if you can't –"

"T," she interrupts. "_I'll be there_."

He takes a shaky breath. "Thank you, Jor," he whispers brokenly, and it takes everything in her not to start sobbing at the sound of his voice.

"You don't need to thank me," she whispers through the lump settled in her throat. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow," he repeats hesitantly. It's silent then, and she knows he's going to have to go soon. "I've got to go," he says on cue. "Bye."

"Bye," she repeats, and moves to hang the phone up. "And T?" she says suddenly, bringing the phone back to her ear and hoping she's not too late.

"Yeah?"

"I love you," she whispers.

She hears him take a deep breath and his voice is shaky when he replies, "I love you, too." All that follows is the dial tone, and then she finally allows herself to cry.

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><p>"You don't understand, I <em>need<em> to be in San Antonio today," Jordan snaps at the woman behind the ticket counter. It's the sixth airline counter she's been to since she got to the airport, and each of them have told her the same thing: she's not getting to Texas any earlier than tomorrow night.

"If you needed to get there, you should have planned your trip and bought the tickets in advance like everyone else," the woman drones in a monotone voice, completely unsympathetic to Jordan's pleading.

"How many times do I have to say the word emergency before you understand what I mean?" By this point, she is nearing tears due to absolute frustration.

"You're not getting on a flight whether it's an emergency or not."

"I don't care how much it costs," she pleads. "I'll fly first class or in the seat by the bathroom that nobody wants. It doesn't matter as long as I'm in Texas by tomorrow morning."

"Look, I understand that it's urgent, but I'm telling you – there are _no seats_ on any planes flying to San Antonio, or anywhere else in Texas, until tomorrow night," the teller says, studying her nails.

"Just get me on a goddamn flight!" Jordan explodes, drawing the gazes of a few passengers at the nearest gate.

The teller finally looks up. "Don't make me call security," she threatens.

Jordan turns on her heel and storms away from the desk, sinking into the first chair at the gate she comes to. As soon as she sits down, she can't contain her tears anymore, and she starts sobbing into her hands.

"Excuse me?" a voice says, and she prays she's not about to get berated for causing a scene in the airport. She sniffs loudly and looks up, wiping her eyes as she does so.

"Yeah?" she manages to croak out once she catches sight of the man looking down at her with what might be concern, or maybe disgust, she can't tell or bring herself to care.

"I couldn't help but overhear you," he starts with an awkward smile, and god she hopes he's not hitting on her. "You need to get to San Antonio?" he asks.

"Yeah," she says bitterly. "And if you overheard, you know that it's not happening."

"What's in Texas?" he asks, and for some reason, she decides to tell him. Maybe it's because it's been eating away inside of her since she got that phone call from TC, maybe she needs to talk to someone and a stranger is the easiest, maybe it's because that was concern on his face earlier, but suddenly everything is spilling out of her.

"My boyfriend," she starts, and his face doesn't change, so she figures he wasn't hitting on her, thankfully. "He's coming home a few weeks early from Afghanistan." The man starts to smile at this, but she continues. "Because his brother was killed in action."

"I'm so sorry," he offers, and surprisingly, it sounds genuine.

"Anyway, he'll be back tomorrow morning, and I really wanted to be there when he flew in. I'd need to leave tonight, but there are no flights, as I'm sure you heard." She swallows and tries not to picture TC's face when he steps off the plane and she's not there like she promised. A few more tears trickle down her cheeks.

"Take my ticket," the man says once she's finished her story.

"What?"

"I have a ticket for a 10:50 flight straight to San Antonio International," he says, pulling the ticket from his inner jacket pocket. He sticks his hand out. "Take it."

"I can't," she stutters. "It's your ticket, you need to get there."

"You love this boyfriend of yours?" he asks.

She pauses. "I do," she finally says softly. "I'm going to marry him," she adds, smiling for the first time since TC's phone call woke her up that morning. Of course, he hasn't actually asked her, but whenever she pictures her future, TC's in it.

"Then take it. He's a lucky guy, and he's going to need you."

"I don't know what to say," she says.

He smiles at her. "Maybe try thank you," he prompts.

"Of course! Thank you! Honestly, I don't know what I was going to do."

"It's no problem," he tells her, smiling. "I was looking for a reason to skip this meeting anyway," he adds conspiratorially.

The two of them make there way to the desk, where the teller acts as though they are personally attacking her by asking her to switch the ticket from his name to Jordan's. Eventually she does it, but with an obnoxious amount of complaint.

"At least let me pay for it," Jordan tells him, but he refuses.

"Don't worry about it. It's a gift." When she opens her mouth to argue again, he adds "Thank that boyfriend of yours for his service. And pass on my condolences." With that, he disappears into a crowd of tourists, and she realizes she doesn't even know his name. She ends up giving her credit card to the teller and paying to upgrade what should have been her flight to first class for the stranger. The woman complains some more, but Jordan insists. With that taken care of, she settles into her gate to wait to board, trying not to think about Thad or what state she's going to find TC in tomorrow.

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><p>So there's chapter one. Follow and favorite to vote. Let me know what you guys think, and I'll be updating soon!<p> 


	2. Get Home

I'm glad that you guys enjoyed the first chapter. I hope you'll all bear with me for the rest of this story. And don't forget to favorite and follow to vote for your favorite Night Shift Write Me submissions! Without further ado, here is chapter two (the rhyming was unintentional).

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><p><strong>Get Home<strong>

_October 8, 2010_

As soon as she sees him get off the plane, it takes everything in her not to ignore the instructions that the soldier who allowed her onto the tarmac gave her and run until she's in TC's arms. She settles for tracking his every move. The moment he sees her, she can tell. His shoulders relax just slightly for a fraction of a second before he straightens them out, his posture rigid like the soldier he is, telling nothing of the anguish she's sure he feels inside. He stands tall and proud, despite the fact that the next person to step out of the plane is carrying the front of a coffin that she knows holds his brother. TC stops and turns, bringing his hand to a salute like all the other soldiers who preceded him off the plane. They form lines on either side, saluting their fallen brother as Thad's coffin is walked down the runway. She feels tears gathering in her eyes as she witnesses the heartbreaking scene in front of her. It hits her suddenly that Thad is gone. The jokester who tag teamed with her to tease TC was never going to crack another joke. She was never going to hear another embarrassing story from TC's childhood or see him wink after he jokingly tells TC that he's going to steal her from him and sweep her off her feet.

A part of her realizes suddenly that she could just as easily be standing here watching them unload TC's coffin, and the thought causes a sob to catch in her throat. Losing TC is something she's not sure she could survive, so a tiny part of her is glad that it's Thad being unloaded in that pine box, despite the fact that she's unsure how TC will ever survive this.

A command is yelled from somewhere, shocking her from her thoughts, and the line of soldiers salute and then begin to break formation. A man she doesn't recognize places a condoling hand on TC's shoulder and then she's off running.

She runs as fast as she can until she slams into TC, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face into his shoulder. Before either one of them can say anything, she's sobbing onto his chest. He wraps his arms around her and buries his face into her hair, letting his own tears fall silently. He's clinging to her desperately, and she's holding on just as tight. She's sure his pressed uniform is going to be wrinkled from how tightly she's clenching the material on his back in her fists, but she can't bring herself to care. After what could be seconds or hours, she pulls away slightly to look up at him.

"T," she whispers, her voice cracking slightly as she catches sight of the completely lost look on his face. "I'm so sorry."

When he hears her voice, he looks for a moment like he is about to completely break down, but in less than a second he hardens his features and a blank mask covers his face. She knows he's trying to appear strong for all of the other soldiers milling around, the ones who looked up to Thad and who are looking to him for guidance, and her heart breaks all over again. She hates that he thinks he needs to be strong, especially in front of her. He should be able to mourn his brother without worrying, and she's terrified that he's never going to.

She wraps her arms around him again, and feels his pull her even closer. She wishes she knew what to say to him, but she's not even entirely sure there's anything to say. Thad is gone, and nothing she says is going to bring him back. She presses her face to his chest, listening to his heartbeat against her ear, reassuring her that he, at least, made it back, not in one piece, but alive. She feels guilty for being happy that TC is alive when Thad is in that box, but she's also so thankful that he's still here for her to hug.

"I want to say goodbye to a few people," he finally says softly. She nods without really thinking about it and follows him when he pulls away and starts toward a group of soldiers. She reaches for his hand and laces their fingers together, unwilling to break contact with him just yet. She stands next to him as he chats with people from his unit, not really hearing anything.

"Jordan, this is Topher." TC's voice brings her back to the present as he introduces her to the man standing in front of her. It's the same one she saw comforting TC when they first got off the plane. It takes her a few seconds to process what's happening, but she finally catches on and sticks her hand out.

"Nice to meet you," she manages to say.

"You, too," he replies as he shakes her hand. "So this Jordan? _The_ Jordan?" he directs to TC, who nods and smiles, though it doesn't quite reach his eyes.

"This is her. I wanted to introduce you now. She's probably going to have to get back to Baltimore soon." She wants to ask him why on earth he thinks she'll be going back to Maryland any time soon, especially before Thad's funeral, which she's sure Topher will be at. She's pulled from her thoughts again when Topher speaks.

"I've heard a lot about you," he starts. "From T, and from," he pauses and swallows hard, "Thad." TC flinches when Topher says his brother's name, but it's so minute she doubts anyone else would have caught it.

"I'm sure none of it was true," she tries to joke, but it falls flat and no one laughs.

Topher breaks the awkward silence. "It was nice meeting you." She smiles and nods in agreement. "I should probably go, though. Janet and Lynn are waiting at home," he says to TC, who nods.

"Wife and daughter," TC explains.

"You'll meet them sometime," Topher says with a weak smile, and Jordan tries to return it but is fairly certain it comes across as a grimace.

"We should probably go to?" she says, turning to TC, who nods.

"See ya later, Toph," he says, clapping him on the back. He places a hand on Jordan's lower back and starts to lead her into the airport.

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><p>"I think I want to move back home," TC says abruptly on their way home from the airport, breaking the silence that's been suffocating them since they got into the car and started the drive to their hotel.<p>

"Back home as in here?" she asks, raising an eyebrow. "To Texas?" He nods, keeping his eyes on the road in front of him. She studies his profile for any hint as to why he wants to move across the country. After a few beats of silence, he speaks again.

"I've missed it ever since I moved to Jersey for college. And I'm sick of snow," he pauses, and she knows there's more to it than him wanting to avoid winter. Last they spoke, he was planning on staying in Baltimore, with her, when his tour ended, snow and all. Of course, everything's different now. "This is – _was_ – his favorite place in the world," he manages to whisper. "And I should be where he is." She notices that he's avoiding saying Thad's name, but she can't blame him. Every time she tries, a lump the size of a golf ball lodges itself in her throat.

It's silent for a while before she finally responds. "Alright. We'll move here."

"We?" he repeats, and turns his head to look at her for the first time since the conversation began. He looks surprised, but he turns back to the road before she can completely see. "Jor, I can't ask you to do that. You've got your family – " she huffs in response, but he continues, "your job, your friends. You don't have to uproot your life for me."

"First of all, I love you. So yeah, Baltimore might have my job and my friends and my apartment. But Texas will have you and that's what matters, all right? _You_ are what I need. So I'll do whatever I want for you, and you can't stop me. Besides, you didn't ask me, I decided. So no more arguments. We're moving to Texas. We'll have to fly back to Maryland at some point for all of our stuff, and I'll have to let the hospital know, but none of that matters, okay?"

He stares at her for a few seconds. "We're moving to San Antonio?" he asks, wide-eyed.

"We're moving to San Antonio," she repeats with a small smile, and his gaze returns to the road.

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><p>And there's chapter two. Review if you're so inclined, and follow or favorite to vote! Next up will be Thad's funeral, so get ready.<p> 


	3. The Funeral

Thanks for all the reviews and favorites, everyone! As promised, here's Thad's funeral. This chapter is pretty long, but it's also pretty sad, so I apologize in advance. I also don't really know much about military funerals, so everything here is from research on the internet, and I'm really sorry if I got anything wrong. Anyway, here's chapter 3.

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><p><strong>The Funeral<strong>

_October 18, 2010_

Neither TC nor Jordan speaks on the drive to the funeral. TC's wearing the black suit she had the foresight to shove into a garment bag before she rushed to the airport, and she's wearing the first black dress she found in her closet the morning everything started. Jordan wishes that the funeral could have happened sooner, just to have it over and done with. They put off going back to Baltimore until after the funeral, but it had taken much longer to get Thad's body released than anyone was expecting.

She's been out of fresh clothes for 3 days, TC for almost a week. They've been living in a state of limbo, and she hopes the funeral will close the door and allow them both to begin the process of moving on. She knows that TC hasn't accepted it yet, and she hopes moving and starting their new life together will let him. They've just been waiting around for something to happen, neither of them working or doing much beside sitting in their hotel room staring blankly at the television and arguing with people on the phone. Planning this funeral was exhausting, half because it was difficult and half because TC refused to let her help him. She'll be glad when it's all over.

They aren't having a church service, because Thad was agnostic on his good days, an atheist on his bad ones and TC falls somewhere in between the two, so a church was not high on the list of anyone's priorities. The service is taking place entirely at the cemetery, and as far as Jordan could tell from eavesdropping on his phone conversations, was going to include a traditional military burial.

They still don't speak as they pull into the cemetery and get out of the car. Jordan grabs TC's hand and interlaces their fingers as they walk towards the gravesite and blinks back tears when he squeezes back like his life depends on it. They are some of the first people to arrive and once they settle into the first row of chairs, people begin coming up to TC to offer their condolences. Jordan stays mostly quiet, but keeps a hold on his hand, hoping that she can ground him even a little bit. Every once in a while, he squeezes her hand and she squeezes back in a silent show of support.

Eventually, everyone has arrived and settled into the chairs set out on the grass of the cemetery. The officiator is standing next to the grave, and Jordan realizes with a jolt that the funeral is about to start. She forces herself to look up, where the man is standing next to the coffin, draped in the customary American flag. She's been focused on TC since they got there, but now it's time for her to focus on Thad. Her stomach clenches and she grips TC's hand tightly when the officiator starts speaking.

"Francis Walker once said, 'We come, not to mourn our dead soldiers, but to praise them.' I think this quote is particularly appropriate today as we say farewell to Thaddeus Callahan, a brave soldier, loving brother, and trusted friend. We should not mourn his death, but rather praise his service and thank him for paying the ultimate price," he starts.

The officiator continues to talk, but Jordan can't focus on his words. Her head is swimming and she's having trouble believing that this is really happening. If it weren't for the death grip TC has on her hand, she doubts she would be grounded at all. She tunes in and out as the man continues to talk, catching pieces of him praising Thad's life and spouting nonsense about how death isn't the end. If she were paying closer attention, she's sure she would scoff. As a doctor, death certainly seems damn permanent and a lot like the end. Before she knows it, his speech is wrapping up.

"I'll end with this quote, by Minot Judson Savage, in hopes that it brings comfort to all those Thad left behind. 'The brave never die, though they sleep in dust."

People start applauding lightly, and Jordan realizes that it's her turn to speak. She swallows and tries to ignore the nerves she feels.

She squeezes TC's hand tightly once more before she rises and walks slowly up to the front. Her hands are shaking as the priest steps aside and allows her to take his spot next to the grave. A lump forms in her throat when she catches sight of the coffin gleaming in the sunlight. She quickly averts her eyes and tries to ignore the fact that Thad is inside and that he'll stay there forever. She swallows the lump in her throat and looks out into the sea of tear-stained mourners. TC catches her gaze, and the look on his face makes her want to cry.

"Hello," she finally says, and her voice cracks before she can finish the word. She takes a deep breath, and starts again. "I'd never had a brother before I met Thad." She stutters when she says his name, but continues on. "I'm an only child, and I accepted fairly early on that siblings weren't in the cards for me. But then I met Thad…" A tear streaks down her cheek, but she wipes it away and keeps talking.

"And suddenly I understood what all my friends with older brothers had complained about. He was obnoxious and loud. He teased me mercilessly and he regularly messed up my hair. He never let me live anything down. He pretended to throw up whenever TC and I kissed and he was in the room." She lets out a watery chuckle, along with a few of the people in the audience, and she sees the corner of TC's mouth twitch upwards for a split second.

"But he was also a wonderful man. He was a great big brother for the brief period of time I was blessed enough to have him. He picked me up when I fell down, made me laugh when I wanted to cry, and always tried to protect me, sometimes to the point of ridiculousness. He was brave and strong and good and he was taken from us too soon.

"I'm sorry that he's gone. I'm sorry that left behind a family who loves him. And I'm sorry that I never got the chance to tell him how much he meant to me." By this point, tears are streaming down her face so rapidly, she doesn't even bother trying to wipe them away. Instead, she lets herself cry for a man who didn't deserve to die, for a hero who fought for what he believed in, for a fallen soldier, but most importantly, for a brother.

"I'm going to laugh a little less without his jokes to cheer me up. My life is going to be a little more muted without his laugh to fill it. And the world is going to be a little darker without his smile to brighten it."

"Goodbye, Thad. I'll miss you," she manages to choke out through the sobs fighting their way up her chest. She hears polite sounding applause as she makes her way back to her seat, but all she can focus on is TC. He looks terribly nervous now that it's his turn to speak. She squeezes his shoulder reassuringly when she reaches him, and her touch brings him back to the present. He rises and makes his way to the podium she just abandoned. By the time he reaches the front, his mask in back in place, and his voice sounds calm when he starts speaking.

"Hello," he says, and she's sure she's the only one who catches the tiniest hint of a tremble in his voice. It's there, though, and all she wants to do is run up and hold his hand. "Thank you all for coming. I'm sure if Thad were here, he'd be bragging about how many people showed up to this thing." A few people in the audience laugh lightly, and Jordan lets herself smile because he's right.

"Then he'd make a joke about how I wouldn't get as good of a turnout as he did." A few more people chuckle at that. "He'd probably be right. Thad was the one that everyone liked. He was always ready with a smile or a joke, and he spent his life trying to be serious for as little time as possible. He was the jokester who could make friends with anyone in the room. It's part of what made him such a great leader. That, and his propensity for dishing out patrol duty." A few of the soldiers from their platoon glance at each other and laugh in agreement.

"I don't think Thad had a malicious bone in his body. Well, for anyone who wasn't me, at least. I got plenty of beat downs when we were kids, and the teasing followed me all the way into adulthood. But he also supported me, protected me, and loved me unconditionally, and for that I will be forever grateful. Good and bad, he was everything an older brother should be, and a whole lot more." He pauses for a moment, whether to reminisce about Thad or to decide what to say next, she's not sure.

"Thad was the one who convinced me to enlist with him. It took him a while to wear me down, though. I was fairly attached to all the amenities at my American hospital, to be completely honest. But he finally got me to agree, and once I got there I realized how important the work I was doing was." He takes a deep breath.

"I'm not sorry that I agreed. I do wish things had turned out differently," he says, and his voice wavers slightly, but he continues. "But I'll never regret joining up. And I know that Thad never did, either. He believed in the work we were doing, and he was proud to serve along side all of us. Not once, even for a second, did he worry about himself instead of the people he was protecting. He woke up every day knowing that it was going to be dangerous and difficult and that he might not make it home." His voice cracks on the word home, but he doesn't stop speaking. "He was – no, _he is_ a hero. And I'm proud to be his brother and I'm proud that I had the honor of serving next to him. But most of all, I'm proud of him for all the good he did, and all lives he touched. And I'm sorry that I didn't get the chance to tell him that while he was still here." His eyes are glassy by this point, but no tears fall. Jordan, on the other hand, has tears streaming down her face, along with most of the others in attendance.

"I'm going to finish with a poem. I'm not really a poetry kind of guy, but I'm also not super eloquent." He shrugs his shoulders awkwardly. "So hopefully this works." He clears his throat and then begins to recite the poem, his voice clear and calm. "May your tortured mind be clear and calm, and your tender heart be warm. May you have no need for strength now, may there never be another storm. I'll wear your memory proudly, my brother, my true friend. May my love for you reach heaven above, until we meet again." He speaks slowly, and his voice never wavers, but a single tear makes its way down his face.

"Thank you," he says, and then he walks steadily back to his seat. He drops into it like he's got the weight of the world on his shoulders, and he grasps Jordan's hand like it's his lifeline. Everyone rises as two soldiers make their way to the coffin. They lift the flag resting on top of it and begin the process of folding it. All of the soldiers in the crowd, including TC, bring their hands up to salute. The soldiers stop in front of TC and offer him the folded flag. He reaches out to take it, and Jordan can see how badly his hands are shaking.

Someone yells a command, and a line of soldiers get ready for the 21-gun salute. Jordan flinches each time they fire. TC holds the flag in one hand, the other brought up to salute, his back ramrod straight and his jaw clenched tightly. The soldiers stop firing, and all of the soldiers salute. TC stares down at the flag in his hands like he can't quite believe what's happening. Jordan knows she can't.

She reaches out and grabs his hand again. He grabs on, and she squeezes back just as tightly as they start to lower the coffin into the ground. He lets go again as music starts to play, bringing his hand up to salute once again.

Suddenly it's all the way down, and she realizes its time for them to toss the dirt into the grave. Each of the soldiers from Thad's unit takes a turn, shoveling a small amount of dirt. Before she knows it, the last soldier is handing her the shovel. She takes it with shaky hands and scoops a shovelful of earth from the pile next to the grave. She lets it fall slowly, trying not to completely break down. Once the shovel is empty, she turns and hands it to TC, who grips it so tightly his knuckles turn white. He takes his turn, a few tears falling along with the dirt, and then everything is over. People start to disperse, and a few come to offer their condolences or compliment them on their speeches. Jordan talks to Topher briefly, but for the most part she stays quiet, speaking only when absolutely necessary.

Eventually, everyone is gone but her and TC. They stand side by side at the gravesite, staring at the coffin, not speaking. After what feels like forever, Jordan reaches out and places a hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay to cry," she whispers softly, and that's all he needs. His face crumples and tears start streaming down his face. After a few moments, he drops to his knees, his head bowed as he cries. Jordan sinks onto the ground next to him, folding her legs under her and wrapping her arms around him as best she can. He clutches her desperately and she can feel his tears wetting her shoulder. She runs one hand through his hair and clutches his back with the other. Tears fall silently down her face as he sobs into her, finally mourning his brother. Her heart breaks over and over with every sob that erupts from TC, and she wonders how they'll ever survive this.

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><p>Sorry! I hope it wasn't too sad. Follow and favorite to vote, and I'll be posting Chapter 4 soon!<p> 


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